I have a bad habit of leaving my drill press chuck key randomly on my work bench. I tried tying a string to it and that failed when it got caught in the chuck and flung. I searched for a spare key but couldn't find a compatible one. I spray painted the handle neon yellow. I tried making the handle longer and wrapping it in colorful Duck tape. I even posted a note on the door to remind me when leaving the workshop. None of this worked, and I still kept losing the chuck key.
One day, I went to the animal shelter thrift store in Austin and found a Starrett key caddy. It's designed to clip onto your belt to hold keys (like car keys). I mounted it on a custom bracket where the original key holder was and zip tied the chuck key to the retractable chain. It worked perfectly! When I let go of my chuck key, it goes up and puts itself away.
Here's an Amazon Affiliate link to the key caddy: https://amzn.to/3fpItMh
